CHAPTER THREE

Alternating current and voltage

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Learning Goals
 Understand Alternating current and voltage.
 Understand the basic characteristics of sinusoidal
signal.

 Be able to perform phasor transformations and draw

phasor diagrams.

 Be able to perform ac circuit analysis.

 Introduction
• Alternating Current (AC): A type of electrical current
that changes its magnitude and direction over time
periodically.
• The flow of charge alternates between positive and
negative, typically following a sinusoidal pattern.
• Alternating Voltage: The electromotive force that
causes AC to flow in a circuit, characterized by its
periodic variation.
 Characteristics of sinusoidal signal.
Amplitude:
Represents the maximum value of current or voltage in either
direction, denoted as Imax or Vmax.
Waveform:
The most common AC waveform is sinusoidal, though square and
triangular waveforms are also used in specific applications.
 Cont..
Frequency (f):

• Refers to the number of cycles the current or voltage completes

in one second, measured in hertz (Hz).

• For example:

– Household power supply in the Ethiopia operates at 50 Hz.

Amplitude:

• Represents the peak value of the voltage or current.

Angular Frequency (ω\omega):
•Defined as ω=2πf, measured in radians per second.
•It describes how quickly the waveform oscillates.
 Cont.…
Phase:
•Represents the horizontal shift of the waveform.
•A phase shift changes where the waveform starts relative to the
origin.
•Indicates the relative position of one waveform compared to another
or in time.
•Phase differences are critical in AC circuits with multiple
components.
Period (T):
•The time it takes to complete one cycle, inversely related to
frequency: T=1/f
 Mathematical Representation
• AC voltage and current are often represented
as sinusoidal functions:
v(t)=Vmax sin(ωt+ϕ)
i(t)= Imax sin(ωt+ϕ)
• Where:
– Vmax: Peak voltage
– Imax: Peak current
– ω=2πf\omega: Angular frequency
– Φ= Phase angle
 Alternating Current Fundamentals
Basic Discussion of Sinusoids and Phasors
 A sinusoid is a signal that has the form of the sine or
cosine function.
 In general, most of the electric, electronic and
communication circuits analysis, is assumed that the
input (signal or excitation or source or supply) is
either sinusoidal voltage or sinusoidal current
 A sinusoidal current is usually referred to as
alternating current (ac). Such a current reverses at
regular time intervals and has alternately positive and
negative values.
 Circuits driven by sinusoidal current or voltage
sources are called ac circuits.
 Reasons for using sinusoidal quantities
i. The voltage generated by an electric machine is generally
sinusoidal in nature.
ii. In AC power systems, sinusoidal waveforms are efficient in
transmitting energy because they are smooth and continuous.
ii. AC voltage can be easily stepped up or down using
transformers, making it ideal for power transmission and
distribution.
iv. Addition, subtraction, and multiplication of sinusoidal
quantities with the same frequency can be simplified and
represented as sinusoidal terms using trigonometric formulae
 Cont…Basic Discussion of Sinusoids and Phasors
Consider the sinusoidal voltage :

Where: Vm = the amplitude of the sinusoid

=the angular frequency in radians/s
 In DC source the magnitude is constant having the same
polarity while in AC source the magnitude and direction are
changing with time .

 In general, the alternating current or voltage is periodic in

nature (i.e. repeat itself after a constant interval of time.)
 Cont…
 The fact that v(t) repeats itself every T seconds is shown
by replacing t by t+T in the equation we get the
following:

Hence,

 i.e. v has the same value at t+T as it does at T and v(t) is

said to be periodic.
 Cont…
 In general:

As mentioned, the period T of the periodic function is the time

of one complete cycle or the number of seconds per cycle. The
reciprocal of this quantity is the number of cycles per second,
known as the cyclic frequency f of the sinusoid. Thus,
 Trigonometric Identities

With these identities, it is easy to show that:

Using these relationships, we can transform a sinusoid

from sine form to cosine form or vice versa.
Trig Identity Cont…
 Example
[Link] the amplitude, phase, period, and frequency of
the sinusoid.

Solution:
 Exercise
Given the sinusoid
Calculate:
a. Amplitude
b. Phase
c. Angular frequency
d. Period and
e. frequency
 Phasors
 A phasor is a complex number that represents the
amplitude and phase of a sinusoid.

 Sinusoids are easily expressed in terms of phasors, which

are more convenient to work with than sine and cosine
functions.
Phasor Relationships for Circuit Elements
Cont…
 Example
[Link] the following quantities /currents in the
phasor form.

a. i(t) = 10 sin (wt+60)

b. i(t) = 10 sin (wt +90)

 Complex Notation and operation

The y-axis is known to be j-axis and the x-axis called the

positive real axis.
Cont…
Example 1
 Exercise
[Link] the given rectangular form in to polar
form:
 Alternating current circuits of sinusoidal input
Phasor voltage –current relationship for R, L and C

 Using the property of phasor we can easily determine the

phasor voltage and current relationship in each of the
three passive circuit elements.

 Then, we carry out sinusoidal steady state analysis easily.

 Now let’s consider each type of passive element one by

one.
 Cont..
[Link] Resistive a.c. Circuit:
In a purely resistive a.c. circuit, the current IR and
applied voltage VR are in phase.
 Cont.…
2. Purely Inductive a.c. Circuit

In a purely inductive a.c. circuit, the current IL lags

the applied voltage VL by 90◦ (i.e. π/2 rads).
 Cont...
In a purely inductive circuit the opposition to the flow
of alternating current is called the inductive
reactance, XL.

where f is the supply frequency, in hertz, and L is the

inductance, in henrys XL is proportional to f as shown
in Figure:
 Cont.…
3. Purely Capacitive a.c. Circuit
In a purely capacitive a.c. circuit, the current IC leads
the applied voltage VC by 90◦ (i.e. π/2 rads).
 Cont…
In a purely capacitive circuit the opposition to the
flow of alternating current is called the capacitive
reactance, XC

where C is the capacitance in farads. XC varies with

frequency f as shown in Figure
 Problem
1. (a) Calculate the reactance of a coil of
inductance 0.32H when it is connected to a 50 Hz
supply.
(b)A coil has a reactance of 124in a circuit with
a supply of frequency 5 kHz. Determine the inductance
of the coil.
Solution:
 Problem
[Link] the capacitive reactance of a capacitor of
10μF when connected to a circuit of frequency (a) 50
Hz (b) 20 kHz.
Solution:

Hence as the frequency is increased from 50 Hz to 20 kHz, XC decreases

from 318.3 to 0.796
 Power in a.c. circuits
the value of power at
any instant is given by
the product of the
voltage and current at
that instant, i.e. the
instantaneous power,
p=vi, as shown by the
broken lines.
 Cont…
For a purely resistive a.c. circuit, the average power
dissipated, P, is given by:

For a purely inductive a.c. circuit, the average power

is zero.
 For a purely capacitive a.c. circuit, the average
power is zero.
 Cont…
For an R–L, R–C or R–L–C series a.c. circuit, the
average power P is given by:
 Power triangle and power factor

• The following figure

shows a phasor diagram
in which the current I lags
the applied voltage V by
angle φ. The horizontal
component of V is V cos φ
and the vertical
component of V is V sin φ.
If each of the voltage
phasors is multiplied by I,
Figure a is obtained and
is known as the ‘power
triangle’.
 Cont…

The relationships stated above are also true when current I

leads voltage V.
 Problem 1
[Link] instantaneous current, i=250 sin ωt mA flows
through a pure resistance of 5 k. Find the power
dissipated in the resistor.
 Problem 2

2. A series circuit of
resistance 60 and
inductance 75mH is
connected to a 110V,
60 Hz supply.
Calculate the power
dissipated.
 Problem 3
3. A transformer has a rated output of 200 kVA at a
power factor of 0.8. Determine the rated power output
and the corresponding reactive power.
 Alternating Current Fundamentals
Ac values
Instantaneous values: are the values of the alternating
quantities at any instant of time. They are represented
by small letters, i, υ, e, etc.
 The largest value reached in a half cycle is called the
peak value or the maximum value or the amplitude
of the waveform. Such values are represented by Vm,
Im, etc.
 Cont.…
 A peak-to-peak value of e.m.f. is the difference
between the maximum and minimum values in a
cycle.

 The average or mean value of a symmetrical

alternating quantity, (such as a sine wave), is the
average value measured over a half cycle, (since over
a complete cycle the average value is zero).
 Cont…
 The effective value of an alternating current is that
current which will produce the same heating effect
as an equivalent direct current. The effective value is
called the root mean square (rms) value.
 The symbols used for rms values are I, V, E, etc.

where n is the number of intervals used.

Cont…
 Example
[Link] the periodic waveform shown in Figure
determine for each: (i) frequency (ii) average value
over half a cycle (iii) rms value (iv) form factor and
(v) peak factor.
 Solution
a. Time for 1 complete cycle=20 ms=periodic time, T
.Hence frequency f = 1/T
= 1/20×10−3= 1000/20
=50 Hz ans

b.
 Cont…Solution
c.
 Cont…
 The time taken by an alternating quantity to complete
a (1) cycle is known as the period, T.

 From the above fig a and b we can observe that :

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